SALTBURN | Theories, Themes & Symbolism Explained | DEEP ANALYSIS (2023)
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- Опубликовано: 11 июн 2024
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💀 UTG DEEP ANALYSIS 💀
🎥 Theories, Themes & Symbolism
🍿 Saltburn (2023)
🎬 Connor takes a deep dive into Emerald Fennell's twisted thriller-comedy! Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike & Richard E. Grant, Saltburn is a complex winding narrative full of rich details the viewer can interpret. Here, Connor shares his observations!
Chapters:
0:00 Saltburn (2023)
0:24 Oliver Quick: Evolving, Planning & Executing
5:20 Literary References: Evelyn Waugh & Shakespeare
7:05 Elspeth: The Flat White Character
8:43 Farleigh Start: Oliver’s Parallel
9:43 Name Theories: Saltburn, Felix & Sir James
10:57 Duncan the Butler: Oliver’s Nemesis
12:11 Visual Themes: Mirrors, Windows & Water
14:04 The Soundtrack: Musical Symbolism
15:41 Miscellaneous Theories
17:11 Outro
👮🏼 Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.
#Saltburn #MovieAnalysis #DeepDive 
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Well, that certainly was a labyrinth of madness! Just about been able to get down my thoughts on SALTBURN! What are your theories about this film? - Connor
I have a movie you definitely want to review, it's just as bad as Grave of the Fireflies, the anime is called Asura 2012.
That movie takes place during Japan's great famine outbreak and it is heart breaking.
I'm surprised you didn't do a whole section of this video essay on Venitia. She could've been Oliver's biggest opponent since before her suicide, she saw through his facade. The sexual tension & powerplay between them was electric. I also consider her calling Oscar a Moth to a flame and a spider spinning his beds as her calling the pot kettle black.
Incredible film. Terrific in depth analysis
It's Brideshead Revisited meets The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Excellent, well developed review. Fabulous cinematography and. Interesting character development executed by fine acting. The third act could have been more complex as it felt as if it fell a little short
I heard another theory that noticed Oliver catering to each of the family members’ most base “needs”. Felix had a savior complex, as was reflected in the wings at the Halloween party. There were verbal nods to him often choosing someone less fortunate to help and embrace only to eventually tire of them, almost like stray dogs. So Oliver and his tragic backstory presented an opportunity for Felix to “save” him. Venetia had an eating disorder and body dysmorphia, so when Oliver did his vampire thing, it was, for Venetia, the ultimate acceptance of her body. With Elsbeth, she needed someone who would sign off on her ignorant verbal attacks and her uneducated theories and beliefs, and Oliver was her “yes” man. Finally, Farleigh needed someone below him on the pecking order so he wouldn’t feel like the lowest life form at Saltburn. It’s all very Parasite-like, if I had to compare it to another film.
Exactly my thoughts! It’s a perfect mix of Parasite, Stoker, Call Me By Your Name, and Talented Mr. Ripley.
Rosamond Pike pretty much confirms your theory regarding Oliver's machinations in a Q & A session for the movie. The funny thing is that the only one who didn't fall prey to Oliver's scheming was Sir James, who only cast him out with bribery after Venitia's suicide and noticing Elspeth's growing emotional dependency on him.
This is the opinion/thought that I was looking for!! The movie gave me Parasite vibes, this is like a western version of it 😅. This movie was also executed well and not an exact copycat of parasite but instead it has its own theme-- obsession, voyuerism, and beauty.
@@Senate300and Sir James was the only one who passed away not from Ollie’s doing
@@ThisisSirLancelot Of natural causes no less. Or by his own hand. I could never tell.
To me Felix’s death scene screamed Icarus because of the minotaur, the labyrinth, and Felix whose optimism led him to fly too close to danger (he had wings on)
Same, the position he was in with the camera pointing past his wings and into the sky IMMEDIATELY made me think Iccarus [also second Barry movie with an 'Iccarus' lol]
And he was below the statue of the Minotaur, in the middle of the maze.
Reminded me of one of the characters from the book a separate peace (I forgot his name)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles was my first legit read in sixth grade and remains one of my favorites. You’re talking about Phineas, right? The kid with the “triumphant pink shirt”…
@@Firenutz yes!! Him
Seeing how normal his parents seemed makes him even more insane
If not mediocre, entitled, ungrateful, vain or greedy.
@@Senate300 well he was all of those
I agree. If he had no background then that would make sense or if he was more a Andrew cunanan/grifter vibe.
One of the things I noticed, but haven't seen anyone mention, is that Oliver's motivation - which seems to be about obssession with wealth and privilege - is not all there is to it. He's not just lying to Felix (and by extension, the entire school) and Felix's family, he is also lying to his own family about being top scholar and being in a play(s). He's clearly a pathological liar, not just lying to get what he wants out of Felix. I feel like we walk away with no idea why he is the way he is. Lastly, does he even get what he wants? He has Saltburn, and presumably the fortune that supports it, yet, there is no way he'll ever actually be aceepted as a member of that upper class. He won't have the friendships and relationships that bind those old-money families together, all he has is the shell of a house and an empty life. Is that enough for him? Is it what he wanted? Or did it even occur to him what his life would be like once he murdered all of them?
I think he’ll always try to prove he deserves to be where he is. Maybe he’ll turn to helping and/or humiliating others to feel superior. He’ll definitely cut ties with his middle class family and pretend they don’t exist. He’ll tell stories that never happened with him and the salt burn family to make it seem like he truly belongs there, that they were a true family and loved each other so much.
Weirdly enough I think he’d look for a Felix look a like to be around, like Hannibal did when he went to Europe and kept hanging out with the Will lookalike.
A cheaper Tom Ripley.
I don't think that wealth and privilege was the ultimate goal of Oliver's. Rather, it was obsession and desire with Felix (and in turn Saltburn). He didn't want to BE them, he wanted to CONSUME them.
Yes I agree. It was a good movie but if they added these factors to the plot it would have really made the movie so much better.
Yeah I got the glaring notion that although he wanted to be Felix, he'll never have the looks, the true charm or persona, that's something he can't fake but he coveted and got pretty good at manipulating towards the end.
Really he showed how far you can get by pretending to be what everyone wanted him to be on an individual level. As someone else said:
- Felix he plays into his saviour complex
- he accepts Venetias body fully by calling her beautiful and eating the blood to prove it
- he was Elsbeths yes man, validating everything she says
- he was the cousins punching bag so he didn't have to feel like the lowest at saltburn
I found it interesting that although Farleigh was arguably the biggest threat to Ollie's plan, he found it more enjoyable to not kill Farleigh but rather strip him of everything that made him lorde his superiority over Ollie. I thought out of everyone he'd love to kill Farleigh but really he found it more enjoyable to cast him out like a dog. Ollie is so psychological which makes him a sociopath, he loves the dirt piss and shit but not the blood and gore, methodical killer rather than an impulse one. Someone said they wondered if Farleigh had never pissed Ollie off would he have even gone after Felix, but still the first time he gets to the school Felix is framed as a god and sticks out immediately.
It's a very good movie to have you feeling sorry for Ollie in a majority of it, having to be around this fake farce of a family displaying all the characteristics we hate of the elites.
You're right though they could've gone into the families characters a bit more like Venetia obviously got fiddled by a family member when she was younger. Who knows who? I felt like the parties weren't really involving me either more casting me out to say look how aesthetic this is, I needed more party substance. I liked Ollie's confrontation but it could've been a bit deeper I feel like he didn't lay into Felix enough about the saviour complex and hypocrisy and getting bored with your toys.
The only one Ollie doesn't try to pander to is the head of the family, maybe intimidated, we don't rlly know why he doesnt. this isn't really foretold, and there's no mention of the father being suicidal or sensitive and managing to commit suicide a number of years after losing his kids in quick succession. I felt that was kinda lacking as a plot point.
I found it interesting in farleighs scene at the party talking smack, in contrast to his expulsion from the family at the dinner, Ollie manages to pown Farleigh by basically deconstructing everything he said to him at the party - that he belongs there and Ollie doesn't, that he'll always be invited and welcomed back, basically I think he destroys Farleigh by proving everything he thought about 'loyalty of family' to be false, to show him the reality that really he's another one of these stray dogs the family took in to fill their empty voids. presumably back to America dealing w his mum which is why he is supposedly 'not a threat' to let get away even though he was the only one that saw Ollie's true colours because he wasn't born into wealth. Low-key you hate Farleigh but he's the real hero of this movie he just needed to put his ego to one side and get a bit smarter. That was his downfall.
Such a good movie! That scene towards the end when Venetia calls Oliver a moth was SOOOOO well acted. My god. They went through a crazy range of human emotions just in that scene.
I know right? Whole shame of that bathroom scene is that Venitia had the potential to be the last line of defense against Oliver's conquest of Saltburn but she didn't have enough strength of will to live long enough to claim that position.
One of the best scenes of the movie for sure
And throughout that whole tirade, a brooding Oliver was there in his stone cold gaze along with a silent machismo, circling his prey before he pounced, granting her the kiss of death. At first I thought it was a form of mental foreplay because it was so sexually charged.
It was well acted but didn’t feel like a realization her character or her dad would have come to based on what we saw in the movie.
There’s never a scene or any indication that shows that Venetia or her dad see through Oliver’s act, so her speech feels like an unnatural plot device.
In fact, Venetia spends the movie accusing her brother of being deceitful/untrustworthy (bringing a friend home each summer then discarding them, not sharing his “toys” with her).
There is zero “evidence” in the movie to back up her sudden epiphany about Oliver-not even the sobbing at the funeral speech really makes sense.
And her dad? He was clueless the whole time so for her to say he was that observant of Oliver’s behavior just rings false.
I thought this scene was too convenient and kind of ruined the moment.
@@guy8646 My guess is Venitia's outburst probably came from a place of jealousy since Oliver was slowly taking her brother's place in the family, watching Farleigh be exiled from the Saltburn Estate after Oliver pointed out his drug use on the same night Felix died and witnessing her mother's growing emotional dependency on him. Something Sir James only noticed after Venitia's suicide.
I dont think Oliver knew Saltburn was Saltburn at the beginning, his obsession began with Felix, and eventually extended to his family and his house when Felix became unattainable. Oliver always struggled with making friends, and Felix was his first way in.
Yes exactly and I feel like he maybe would have wanted to live with just Felix. Like the 2 of them but when he was rejected he made the decision to kill Felix instead and do it alone. I feel like he originally wasn’t even planning on killing them all, he tired to get rid of Farleigh but he didn’t try to kill him. You can even see the moment Oliver decides to kill Felix. He thinks about what it means that’s he’s been rejected and then he shoves the poisoned bottle at Felix. UGH I MEAN IDK I JUST HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS MOVIE
I think Oliver had to have known about Saltburn because why else would he lie about having a terrible home life? Oliver lied about his background knowing that Felix would invite him to stay for the summer because that’s what Felix had done in the past. I also think that’s why he just “happened” to have the same tutor as Felix’s cousin. Oliver clearly did a lot of research into Felix’s life, so there’s almost no way he wouldn’t have known about Felix’s home.
In the end of the movie he brags about doing his homework on everyone and every situation- he definitely knew the end goal
Oliver knew exactly who he was praying on from the very beginning. I just wanna know why the cattons. I don’t think this was a case of eat the rich because he doesn’t come from poverty. Oliver is a high functioning sociopath
@@caleighb2329I think he’s just a pathological liar. I know the film sets us up to believe everything is premeditated right from the very start, but it’s just not that believable. I don’t think him lying to Felix about his home life was about Saltburn. It was about Felix, about getting Felix’s attention, about speaking to Felix’s ego and Felix’s need to give in a world where everything is handed to him. He reads Felix well. But he’s also a little stupid, imo - he could’ve made his story more believable. Saying your dad is dead when he isn’t is just hanging a knife over your head because there’s no way to explain away a lie like that. Maybe he should’ve made himself into a foster child or adoptee or something - it would allow his fake sob story to be consistent with the mundane reality of his home life that Felix sees later. Felix would’ve been too polite to ask questions and gone away believing he’d met Oliver’s adoptive parents. Idk, the movie is inconsistent because for someone who is supposed to be so clever and calculating, Oliver is also very clumsy and not particularly cunning. He doesn’t cover his tracks. He makes an enemy of Farleigh but is also very obviously behind the Sotheby’s email and the drug insinuations - he doesn’t cover his tracks. He doesn’t even win over the butler.
Oliver never took a train because his parents house was actually not that far, so he could take a taxi. Duncan was confused because I’m sure they checked the train schedule before, and knew that Liverpool’s train will arrive on certain time.
Why should he take a train if him and Felix got to the Ollie’s house by a car fast. They did it in couple of hours they arrived there in daytime, talked to his parents, even ate a bolognaise and came back to Saltburn at the same day. And Felix in the beginning of their trip told Oliver that they are going not that far.
Soooo, I think Oliver lived in a town nearby Saltburn and always knew about it. And he always knew who lived there, because in every small town everyone knows everyone. It’s impossible not to notice a castle nearby.
And even Oliver did a good research to know about the family, even maybe knew before about Felix going to Oxford. that’s my theory. But the thing with a train really got me thinking that he never took a train and got to Saltburn by a taxi directly from home.
Feliz drives them to Preston, which is 3hrs from Oxford, where they are both at University. Saltburn could be located outside of Oxford which still makes it a plausible journey to do during the day. They clearly didn't stay that long in Oliver's suburban family home.
@@_crusoe It is Prescot, Merseyside. Preston is in Lanchashire.
@@JokyusanStill only 3 hours from Oxford, but definitely stretches the plausibility a bit - you wouldn’t do that journey in an open top car on country roads, you’d take the motorway. It would make more sense if Saltburn was in the midlands or up north, but that would contradict the Liverpool conversation Elspeth had with Pamela, which placed them pretty firmly in the ignorant South.
Trains can also be taken for short distances, you do realise? Also, he could’ve just got an earlier train. And the train is often quicker than a car. There’s no way he just took a taxi all the way from home unless he lived really close, but that wouldn’t make sense because then the family wouldn’t be so baffled about Liverpool or where Prescot is (including the dad, who was always a bit more switched on than the others and clearly less ignorant about the world). I don’t think there’s any reason to believe he didn’t take the train.
Also, Saltburn isn’t a castle, and there are absolutely loads of houses just like it all over the country - they’re not major tourist attractions, they’re just average National Trust stuff if they’re public, and many are private. The actual house used in the filming was a private house never seen before by the public. There a bunch of manor houses and country estates near my home town but I haven’t got a clue about most of them. They’re usually pretty far from towns, relatively speaking, and quite remote/out of the way, so you don’t really come across them by accident. Unless they’re open to the public, these places usually keep a very low profile.
@_crusoe Preston is way more than 3hrs from Oxford lol
Barry Keoghan definitely deserves an Oscar for this performance. He became completely different personas at different parts of the movie. My feelings went from empathy, to intrigue to disgust to fear and at the end I was just impressed. I couldn’t tell if he loved, lusted or loathed Felix. Or if it was just his ability to control people and blend in with them that motivated him.
I think he both loved and hated what Felix represents. Love and hate are both the most intense emotions you can feel for a person and can often become muddled as it can be hard to differentiate the two as the intensity is the same
But he never truly loved Felix as a person
@@lucaarianne He both looked up to Felix and envied him at the same time. Oliver couldn't have Felix so he chose to conquer all that is his.
Oh and I think that Barry Keoghan was a miscast for the part...
Eh.
the fact the rock with 'dad' on it didn't hit the water was a foreshadow to the fact that oliver was lying about his whole life
damnnn nice one bro
I like to think the doppelganger is a premonition of Felix's death, since Percy Shelly died after his doppelganger was seen
I'm pretty sure it's that! Felix in this scene is wearing the same pink shirt, and we see his doppelgänger walk past during that conversation. He also happens to walk past the same window that his corpse will later be carried away on, on it's way to the coroners van!
I am glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed Felix’s doppelgänger pass by the window as Venetia spoke of Shelley’s doppelgänger. If Ari Aster has taught me nothing else, it’s pay attention to the background in films as much as the foreground! It had to be Felix, as the person was wearing the exact pink shirt Felix was wearing in that breakfast scene and also had very dark hair.
THIS 100%
time stamp?
this movie was phenomenally done. the final song left me feeling strangely bittersweet , i was disgusted by Oliver’s actions but silently rooting for him by the end of it ? ugh loved it
You put it perfectly! By the end, when he's dancing naked to murder on the dancefloor, I feel I should be cheering him on and it's jovial. I was smiling and wanted to clap, for this character who is an absolute and almost literal Monster!
For Emerald Fennel to write a character like that so well, and then for Barry Keoghan to play it so well? Insane. Perfectly executed!!
Me too! I found Oliver's actions egregious (especially Felix's grave scene + when he finally offed Elsbeth) but I also despised the Catton family. I even thought Felix, who appears like a genuinely nice guy on the surface, was completely disingenuous and perceived people as playthings. I was rooting for their downfall until the ending revealed the extent of Oliver's scheming :(
This is how directors manipulate you, Oliver is clearly shitty but was portrayed as a winner in the end and was given a glorious final scene that makes the viewer feel like they witnessed some triumph. Great filmmaking
Yes. Awesome film. Oliver isn't the only one passionately in love with everyone else & all the individual love affairs! Me too! And in love with Oliver too! Madness! Terrific film! Feel like I was dancing nude along with Oliver [ at film's end ] so... all amazing, all good!
@@ciaraskeletonngl… it’s weird that u we’re cheering him on at the end. he’s not charming. he’s weird. he lies and cheats and manipulates and it’s not like it isn’t clear pretty much from the jump that he’s not who he says he is. he is deeply unsympathetic and the reveal at the end just shows that we never actually knew anything abt his character. which is just disappointing and terrible writing.
In the movie, "Superbad," the initial film they were watching was playing a scene where a “friend,” was confronted for purchasing a bad fake ID. This ID had a highly implausible name, possibly symbolizing Oliver's character whose identity is just a far-fetched fabrication. Surprisingly, this seemingly absurd identity manages to deceive the very people it needs to deceive. It's an intriguing little detail in the film that caught my attention as well.
POV my English teacher at every single sentence of any written form
I think there might be more to the inclusion of Superbad, The Ring and the songs in the karaoke scene but what struck me about them is they're all quite "low" art that this upper class family seems to be reveling in. It's quite unexpected and it humanises them.
Also, in Superbad, McLovin' is poised to replace Jonah Hill's Seth as closest friend when they go off to college, somewhat echoing the displacement of Farley in the estate.
yeah I agree with that, that's not that deep. She's showing us that they like what we all like. parallels to the plot are embarrassing attempts at intelligence in my eyes@@RealCreativeUsername
@@RealCreativeUsernameagreed and I think it adds to Oliver’s hatred of them in this amazing wealth how tacky and trashy they are in his mind
It amazes me, the variety of interpretations I have found. To me, this movie was all about Oliver's obsession with Felix and his schemes to get closer to him. From the beginning to the end, we continuously hear 'adult' Oliver lying, with the imagery contradicting what he says (e.g., claiming not to be in love while showing us a montage of dazzling Felix). His devotion later turns murderous when Oliver struggles with handling Felix's rejection and faces the repercussions of killing the object of his obsession. His attempt to cope with the aftermath of his actions by stealing what remains of Felix's life (Saltburn and his family). I firmly believe that taking over Saltburn was not his goal from the beginning; instead, it is a form of self-punishment, living with the ghost of what he can't have anymore but unable to let go of the only thing he has left of him.".
I see what you’re getting at but what about him lying about his family and their wealth? I feel like the money and power surrounding felix’s family was always in the back of his mind and got tainted by his feeling that developed for felix. i’m gonna go see it again tomorrow and try to gain a stronger understanding of the movie 😭 I absolutely loved it though. best movie of 2023 for sure
@@macyshaffer1145
Felix and his family have this "savior" complex; they see people almost like "human pets," but they get bored just as easily-they are disposable. For Felix, he seems to like the importance and righteousness he gets out of doing "the right thing." Oliver spots this pretty early and crafts himself exactly the way he thinks Felix would notice him (helps him first with the bike to get his attention and then appear helpless, struggling financially and with family issues) so Felix our White knight would want to help him (adopting him if you will). As he said, "I just gave you what you wanted." Felix wanted to be a hero, and Oliver gave him someone he can save (of course, it was all a lie).
i just think that nothing in the film was thought through any further than “ooh wouldn’t that be weird?” and “you know what would be crazy?” like literally. a psychosexual melodrama about obsession? u don’t get more boilerplate than that. everything on top is just set dressing that in no way contributes to that underlying message. the obvious eat the rich messaging is also incredibly hollow when the only likable characters in the film are the rich people, and every non-aristocratic character is either a manipulative sociopath or a primary antagonist with no character growth or resolution.
We get it you dont like it lol
@@travisharris2377 ur goddamn right i don’t. and anyone who tries to treat it like some genius piece of art cinema is either a fucking idiot, a liar, or both. and this “analysis” of the movie is one of the most comically surface level analyses of a movie i’ve ever seen. like i’m sorry but if you at any point say “felix means happy. which really sums up his character” REEVALUATE UR WHOLE EXISTENCE. that’s not a profound thought. this is not a profound movie. it’s bad. it’s poorly written poorly acted poorly shot poorly edited and even poorly marketed. just awful.
I was hoping you referenced Venetia drinking the wine and it spilling over her chest to resemble a bleeding heart after the death of her brother. The sibling relationship between Venetia and Felix was central, too. How Felix became protective of Venetia when he was told she and Oliver were intimate. The theme of blood and Venetia are often linked symbolically
Me too. Another detail was during Oliver and Venetia's intimate scenes, he spreads her blood on her chest, over a white dress. The red wine spilt on a white dress felt like a direct reference to that. The coupling scene felt like foreshadowing, him being the one that caused her that heart breaking pain, forcing her to endure the situation by killing her brother.
Venetia and Felix remind me of Ophelia and Laertes, with Oliver being a Hamlet of sorts
@@user-ed7et3pb4o a friend of mine pointed out that when Venetia is lying on the pond with the hair touching the water is resembling a painting of Ophelia's death by John Everett Millais.
I think the movie is more about envy. How envy consumes us, he didn’t love felix he wanted to become felix. Since envy is an emotion very difficult to admit to oneself, he had to say he loved him.
I think it’s both, Oliver loved and envied Felix.
He desired Felix and everything he had, but he couldn’t have Felix or become anything like him so he became obsessed and insane.
I agree that it is 100% envy and not love. Oliver is a psychopath who doesn’t understand love like you or I. He is driven by his own selfish motivations. He’d only know Felix for 6 months and was calculating how to weave himself into Felix’s circle the entire time. That’s not love at all.
@@EmmereCompletely agree
He loves everything about Felix, because its the complete opposite to himself. He loves Felix as he says, however he is not in love with Felix, as he also states. As the saying goes, there is a thin line between love and hate
Absolutely. The earlier scenes contrasts the two characters the most.
Felix is tall, has a group of friends around him, outside, fits in, looks like he knows the area
Whereas in,
Oliver looks around like he is new. Knows no one. Short, timid.
He wanted what Oliver had. Psychopathic ego thing. To have it all.
I've only seen it once but I noted another little detail! Oliver is perfectly composed and clean shaven when they're at breakfast after Felix's death and willing to play along in the role that Elspeth and Sir James want, whereas Farleigh is "ugly" (for the first time?) as in, disheveled and growing stubble. He's desperate to unpack what happened and share in grieving in this modern American kind of way, where even Venetia is just drinking to repress a response; at this point he's truly incompatible with the rest of the family, and then he's kicked out for good.
In fact the more I think about it, even Elspeth and Sir James have cracks in their facades with more of an emotional reaction than Oliver does. He's the murderer so it's not a shock to him, but on some level it's also like his composure and detachment make him better suited to this stiff-upper-lip "classic English aristocrat" ideal and that's when he outplays them all to take over. Good stuff!
That’s very cool that you noticed those details, thanks for sharing.
I noticed when they were eating at breakfast with Pamela there was a scene she looks shockingly out the window and in the background behind farleigh you see a guy wearing the exact same clothes as Felix walk past the window he even looks like him, even though Felix was seated at the table. She then dies obviously but later you hear Felix being wheeled past the same window by the police or whoever wheeled his body out. I wonder if this was foreshadowing his death or there is more that I’m missing with this detail I noticed.
@@ssusggusit was! It was on reference to the doppelganger story they were telling about Perce Bysshe Shelley's doppelganger being seen in his home (he was abroad at the time) before he died
@@lucaarianne oh wow that’s very clever!
felix said elsbeth is scared of stubble, so yeah he had to be cleanly shaven
Omg yes that’s so true
Everytime Oliver gossiped about one person of the family to the other (e.g. when he tells the mother that Pamela was lying, or when he tells Felix his cousin lied), all of the characters interacting with Oliver respond with "What do you mean?". Shows really how Olli was getting into their minds, making them doubt and put against each other, and trusting Oliver more.
If Oliver symbolizes the minotaur, maybe Felix's wings are a nod to Icarus. Icarus flew too close too the sun and fell to the ground. Felix became too close to Oliver and his whole family fell.
One thing I noticed was the framing of Oliver in the first half of the movie. He was always barely in frame above the shoulders(because of his relative height to the other men) but as the movie progresses he is more centered in the frame and no longer looking up at people but looking down on them.
Yes, this.
I personally think Felix wasn’t innocent. I think Felix got off on showing people his wonderful life and dazzling them and then dropping them. It sounded like he did that every year.
And quite literally "got off" on it too
I disagree. I think in a strange way, Felix was one of the only decent person in that movie. I think Felix was just looking for a real friend, rather than someone who only liked him for his status, looks, charm, and other surface level reasons.
You hear his sister say that to Oliver too, she says she can tell why Felix likes him and it’s because Oliver seems so real compared to everyone they’ve ever met. Who have all probably been parasites, like their cousin Farleigh, but worse since they don’t really have familial ties like Farleigh.
I say this because Felix lost interest in Oliver before he invited him to Saltburn. So the idea of him basically losing interest in people the way Venetia suggested was more-so her trying to manipulate Oliver for her own desires. Oliver had rubbed Felix the wrong way while they were at college if you remember, he was trying to clean his room and was sorta treating him like a child (or like they were in an intimate relationship) and then Felix kind of stops hanging out with him until he finds out Oliver’s father dies.
I don’t think any of the characters were necessarily evil, even their cousin Farleigh. They all just seemed like products of their own environment. Albeit they were all incredibly decadent, but they weren’t actually evil, except for Oliver. Even Farleigh wasn’t necessarily evil and more so just a super decadent little parasite. A lot of us know cousins like or have cousins like him. In fact, in a strange way, Farleigh was one of the only main characters that could see right through Oliver and you could argue he was jealous but I genuinely believe he was just so creeped out by Oliver and saw something sinister in him. As a parasite himself, he could see that Oliver also wanted to leech off the family (mainly Felix), which probably creeped him out more since he was an outsider. I guess in a strange way it’s obviously less weird when a family member is dependent on you vs a stranger?
right esp considering venetia's line about how olie is better than last year's guy, the scene where he kicked olie out of his dorm, n so on... despite proving to be somewhat decent felix still had sth somber to him he's too complex and nuanced to be labeled as good or bad
Agree and he finally got to close to the sun
@@camy6846I think both can be true - Felix was mostly decent, but also quite selfish. Oliver made him feel needed and important, fed into his sense of noblesse oblige, and as long as he stuck to that role Felix kept him around. Whenever the power dynamics showed signs of slipping, Felix shut things down and shut Oliver out - he always wanted to maintain that feeling of superiority. I think it’s one of the reasons he took Oliver to his mother’s house in the first place. If he believed Oliver’s story before then, then that was an incredibly cruel ‘act of kindness’, especially on Oliver’s birthday. It’s almost like he’d seen Farleigh get kicked out, Oliver get comfortable, his mother start to fawn over Oliver and throw a massive party for him, and decided to take him back to the slum to see his drug addict mother against his will, just to put him back in his place. Even if he’d heard his mum and thought she sounded decent/clean and intended the best, it really wasn’t his place to forcibly drive Oliver to Prescot under false pretences. It speaks volumes about his saviour complex and innate sense of superiority/ownership. To him, an unequal dynamic is just the natural way of things.
I don’t understand how people can think that the doppelgänger window scene is an accident. Of course it’s on purpose
I wonder if the antlers on Oliver’s head were a parallel to deer in nature. Male deers use the antlers as weapons when fighting for breeding rights/territory. I wonder if that was the parallel they were trying to draw for Oliver’s character. To imply his fighting for territory/breeding rights, to ultimately be crowned the victor.
Oliver went from a Deer caught in the headlights to a fighting stag on a mission of conquest. Making him a usurper.
The only thing I could think of was killing of a sacred deer in those scenes
Yes, and the fact that his antlers are small with just a few points indicates that he's not a powerful stag yet.
But since Unleash the Ghouls is trying to find a connection between Oliver's costume and A Midsummer Night's Dream, I'll add this: King Oberon, the husband of Queen Titania, is usually depicted as having horns - and in A Midsummer Night's Dream, he makes a fool of Titania by putting a spell on her that makes her fall in love with Bottom (the human with the ass's head). This could parallel Oliver making a fool of Elspeth, who seems to be dressed like Titania. Meanwhile, her husband James isn't dressed like Oberon; he's just wearing silly armor.
Puck is often depicted with horns (not true antlers). I don’t think it’s that deep.
He’s Puck and antlers look cooler than single horns.
I think it goes more in the minotaurs direction
There was just something terrifying about Oliver's deer costume. I have no idea what, he just looked like a changeling, a faerie, a demon. I was doubtful before but at that moment i knew he was pure evil
barry keoghan is a legend in the making. phenomenal performances
I know it’s possible, but I don’t think I can see him having a bad role. He’s so versatile and skilled. I don’t know how many Batman movies Matt Reeves plans on making but I hope we can see Keoghan’s Joker as the main antagonist in one. I would love to see his take on the character
@@johnguzman491watch the deleted scene. Barry’s Joker is absolutely terrifying, and he’s only on screen for 5 minutes!
No! Elspeth doesn't hate the idea of being the inspiration for Pulp's Common people - being the narcissist that she is she absolutely loves it but of course feins displeasure while letting everyone know that she knew Javis and was part of the britpop scene.
I think it was Felix’s doppelgänger walking by the window, foretelling his death at the party. This movie was phenomenal, Emerald Fennell is a tour de force ❤
Also the song during the party says “1,2,3,4 let me hear you scream if you want some more” 1,2,3,4 deaths and elspeth screams when she finds Felix dead in the maze which was the beginning of the rest of the deaths. She screamed and she got some more. AGHHH am I reading too much into that idk but it’s cool🤭🤭🤭
one theory i saw about Oliver's look for the birthday party was that the horns he wore made him reminiscent of a changeling, kinda paralleling with Oliver slipping into the family as just one of the human children before his true sinister nature is realized.
the film's central focus, to me, felt like severe obsession. that kind of obsession where you need that person's validation and attention to you so badly that you find yourself sniffing their dirty laundry just to feel closer to them. so, i still find myself questioning if Oliver really aimed for being the king of Saltburn from the get go, or if his rejection by Felix shifted his obsession with being loved by Felix into an obsession to take over Felix's life. all of Oliver's sneaky moves before that point (jaeger bombs, bike tire, changing his style) seemed to be an attempt to get and hold his attention. he tells Felix flat out, i only did all of these things because i wanted you to like me. his motives dont really feel sinister to me until he knows Felix will never love him the way he does him.
I loved the theory of the deer horns representing being initially perceived as prey but he was the hunter instead
It was as simple as this. What Oliver couldn't have, he chose to kill. With Saltburn, Mr. Quick stormed the castle and took the keys to the treasure room. Via subterfuge of course.
It's what I've been saying; he would rather kill Felix than be apart from him.
The moment Oliver said he didn't care what Felix thought of him anymore, Felix was fair game to be taken out. The loss of Felix's respect due to his fraud and Farleigh's strong arm tactics in the gatekeeping department are what changed his motivations changed from the possession of Felix to the conquest of all that was his. Including Saltburn. Oliver's declaration of hatred for Felix was either him lying to himself or it suggests that his admiration of Felix came from a position of envy.
@@Senate300What we know of Oliver is an incredibly deceptive person who lies far more often then he tells the truth. I do think he was truthful sometimes, like the talk he had with Felix before he kills him.. but I strongly believe in his recapping the story to Elsbeth that he is desperately lying to himself. I think that’s clear with the grave scene, he did destroy Felix because he couldn’t live a life where his first true love thinks him an awful pathetic monster. Felix arranging the meeting with his parents was truly too much for Oliver to cope with, he wasn’t supposed to be found out that way. I think that’s when his motives shift, but truthfully he obsessedly loved Felix and couldn’t bare a life where it wasn’t reciprocated. So instead, he becomes what he could not have.. so in a really deluded way he never lost Felix.
I like to think that Oliver knew about Eddie, the friend who Felix took to saltburn in the past. So his plot was based around this opportunity
Omg this plot would be amazing!!!!
I firmly believe that Oliver's actions were not Money driven at least at the beginning.
His plan from the beginning was to get close to Felix, to establish a connection. I do think he loved him in his own obsessive way.
When Oliver enters Oxford he is an outsider, Despite being smart and diligent none of this earns him people attention or affection; Felix is the opposite only troubled by the fact that too many people love him, I supposed that's part of the "comfort" he found in Oliver like Venetia said.
of course, a significant part of his infatuation with Felix is due to Felix's privileged background. It's this upper-class upbringing that allows Felix to be carefree and charming, to effortlessly gain everyone's affection and love.
Felix's "compassion" is a trait Oliver exploits. This kindness, seemingly pure, also appears condescending, we could say it's "saviour complex" observing a human tragedy up close, sighing with both sympathy and satisfaction knowing he can be the hero and do the "right thing", Felix and his mother feed from the lives of the "Unfortunates", they treat them like pets, they dress them, feed them, care for them, but they lose interest just as quickly, growing bored and getting rid of them when they become inconvenient (Pamela, Oliver even Farleigh).
Oliver knows what type of person Felix would be interested in, knows what role would gain Felix's attention and friendship. So, he holds onto this character tightly, he also knew that Felix wouldn't gave him what he wanted so he found other ways to take it from him (the bathtub, venetia, Farleigh even the grave)
Unfortunately, the moment of rejection came earlier than expected. Felix wanted to help Oliver reconcile with his family, inadvertently exposing lies.
when Oliver fully understands there's no turning back in his relationship with Felix, that Felix won't forgive him, finds him disgusting, no longer considers him a friend-that's when he made the choice to end Felix. In his mind, he preferred Felix to be d34d than not being able to be with him.
He k1_|| the lover he could not keep, and, once consumed by regret, he shifts the subject of his obsession to Saltburn-the only place where there is anything left of Felix (I feel we can appreciate very well his deep regret and devotion to Felix in the grave scene, clinging to whatever he has left of Felix and consumed by the pain of his loss even though he was the one who caused it). It is like self-punishment to live with the ghost of what he can no longer have, but he is unable to let go, so he clings to Felix's essence.
Throughout the movie, Oliver lies to himself. We hear the adult Oliver say, 'I wasn't in love with him,' while we are shown how he licks the dreanje, 'I don't smoke.' When the movie starts with him smoking, the end is him trying to convince himself that taking down Felix and his family was necessary."
As emerald said for GQ magazine
“I think it's a happy ending, [but] the happiest ending [for Oliver] would of course be with him and Felix married, living there together,” she continues. “I think that in his mind, and in my mind, that would be the dream. That dream is not possible. So, therefore, this is the best of a bad bunch of options.”
Saw that take and a couple of the director's interviews that complement eachother really well.
Great analysis! Something that really stuck with me is how the movie opens with highly idealized, angelic views of Felix, showing how Oliver really saw him as being in the centre of his mind.. the property are just some blurry lines is the background. it was never about Saltburn.
one misinterpretation you had was when Oliver first arrived at Saltburn, Duncan noted that he was early, at which time Oliver states that he caught the early train. Duncan then says that he should have called because they sent a car to pick him up... So he took the early train and got a cab to the estate. He did not lie or get caught in said lie by Duncan.
One thing I noticed as well is the links to pinocchio's fairy tale. Oliver is twice referred to as "almost real", once by Venetia in their first proper encounter, and once by Farleigh before that, where he specifically says he looks almost like "a real boy". He's also referred to as Felix's toy multiple times, and he lies and catches up to lies as well (like with what he tells Elspeth about Pamela).
I believe the film could also be seen as a reinterpretation of that story. In Pinocchio, once he's lies and poor life choices catch up to him he turns his life around. In this film the opposite happens: once Felix finds out about his life he becomes more of a monster and less of a "real human"
Good reflection
Also how Ollie's essay he writes in the beginning for the professor is 'My Last Duchess' where the husband possesses a personality similar to Oliver's and his wife, being imprisoned within the portrait can signify Oliver ultimately traps the lasting memory of the family in the weird dancy clown thing at the end
I like to think the antlers are also a reference of Barry's role in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a movie where he does very similar things
I was searching for this comment! All I could think about was this movie!
I have a theory Oliver originally wanted to kill himself but after his fight with Felix in the maze he changed his mind. Otherwise why would he drink the poison himself before even entering the center of the maze? He forces himself to throw it up after their conversation. He has no reason to drink the poison himself if his target is purely just Felix. Felix drank some of the poison and dies as an aftermath.
I also don't think he entered the bathroom with Venetia with the goal of planting the razors. In the last scene where his plan comes to light you can see she's asleep when they're planted which means it's after their fight and not before.
He's completely driven by obsession and being seen as something good to Felix and later the family. Once that starts to crumble he can't handle it and kills them as a response.
Waaait I never thought about why Oliver drank the poison, interesting!
We see near the end that Ollie slips the poison in while he was still in the maze, and doesn't drink it when he's actually there with Felix/hands it to him. His main goal was to kill him but I guess he wanted to get a lil buzz going first lol
Doesn’t he drink first and THEN poison the bottle? He’s too devious to want to commit suicide.
He left the razors there hoping she would kill herself. And his calculations were correct. Venitia didn't have the will to live.
He drinks from the bottle and then immediately throws up to get the same poison out of his system. It was probably to sell the bottle as being innocuous champagne and nothing else, that’s my take anyway.
Another detail with the stars on the cigarette case, both Felix and Venetia have stars tattooed on their hands
11:53 I’m sure Oliver took a cab, the driver’s uniform and the info on the driver’s door notes this; also, having Duncan explain that they sent a driver was an indication that Oliver didn’t expect the family to do this/be so baller about his visit. Given how in awe he was of saltburn after arriving, he surely was expecting them to be rich, just probably not that kind of rich. The movie showed how new this type of service (personal driver) is to Oliver, and Duncan seemed to judge him for it. The same vibe is in the breakfast scene; the family makes Oliver feel stupid for not realizing it’s self-served after giving an eggs preference.
Too funny you mentioned her font choice on the headstone because Times New Roman, I was like seriously?!?!? 😂
Looking forward to seeing this one because for half of Barry Keoghan's career I was left wondering 'did they just hire a poor touched-in-the-head kid to be an actor' because man he inhabits those troubled youth roles lol. Calm with Horses, Dunkirk, Banshees, Sacred Deer, Green Knight. So much of that lol. So I'm interested to see him as more of an adult, take charge type character for once. He still seems to be a mischievous character in this, so it's still almost a little bit of type casting. Sure an interesting actor that guy.
Well, he probably gets those roles because he knows exactly what that role is like. Have you read up on his life story?
@@kathleenbolton-schmukler5727 Not so much. I saw him in the news once for a bar fight but I don't really have much appetite for lifestyles of the rich & famous.
I was so disturbed by the end of this movie. It didn't do anything particularly shocking or gruesome but it was just by the end bearing his character bare, really rubbing in how evil he is and how comfortable he is with his evil deeds.
Great analysis! During the bar scene when Felix was helping Oliver with the bill the song playing in the background was "Destroy Everything You Touch" by Ladytron, probably foreshadowing the demise of the family.
😮😮😮😮
I love this film so much. Emerald Fennell is a genius. As soon as I found out she was behind Saltburn, I knew it was gonna be a masterpiece. Her previous film Promising Young Woman is one of my favorites and just as twisted and fantastic as this one. I can’t wait to see what she does next
adding to your minotaur/oliver point, I saw somewhere (can't remember the source) that they modelled the Minotaur in Barry's likeness, so you're spot on in equating them
Interesting analysis, especially the multiple references to Oliver as various animals.
I viewed the antlers as perhaps an allusion to the satanic with Felix's wings being that of a cherub. You also compared the antlers with the idea of sacrifice. You often see Oliver kneeling at points in the film; on Felix's grave, on Elsebeth's bed. The kneeling felt like very sacrificial imagery to me. Although it's Oliver who is kneeling. A lot of the imagery is inverted in the film that way. Another reading of the antlers being an inversion of predator/prey. Usually a stag is hunted but it's Ollie who says at the end that the family had no natural predators before him.
I read Oliver as the monster with the film playing out as a horror/monster movie where the monster wins. There are loads more references to the supernatural and monsters like the vampire scene, people calling thmlemselves cold blooded (again when it's Ollie who is the vampire) and the nighttime sequences.
You've got a subscribe from me!
I was thinking about Cernunnos for the antlers, the Celtic god variously associated with animals, wealth, lust and the cycle of life and death.
Heyy,
So you were talking about music and I remembered that in the birthday scene when Oliver blows out the Candles and everybody said I don’t even know his name, the song Loneliness started playing and I think that is supposed to tell us that he is actually lonely but enjoys it because the song says „happiness seems to be loneliness“
I absolutely loved this video I have been thinking about the movie for a little to long and I just needed a analysis of this movie so thank you 🫶🏻
(Excuse my spelling I’m German 😅)
The name "Saltburn" reminds me of a piece of land in my area that was a salt scald since the 1930s.
Nothing grew there for decades. It was used for ATVs for about 10 years. Finally, a developer scraped it and put new topsoil down.
After being "dead" for decades the land was finally reclaimed and reinvigorated.
This film and also this analysis was brilliant. One thing i will always find so complex though is the family. For example, when they said ‘i can see why oliver likes you’ and ‘your better than the one last year’ and about them always being sort of weird, secretive i was just slightly confused?
I think they said "I can see why Felix likes you" as Oliver is the protagonist and Felix is the one in the family. The family is out of touch and Felix tends to get what he wants/lives a happy life. As we see in the film he can just go up to a woman and they will sleep with him. It is implied by Farleigh that Felix brings someone to Saltburn every year and the family is used to this and enjoys showing off to them, giving them a taste of the privileged life only to send them home once they're bored with them, leaving them with that longing for something like Saltburn. It just shows how conceited they are in their own lifestyle, that they enjoy messing with people in this way. Only this time they met their match in Oliver.
As much as I love Saltburn but didn't like how the excessive use of exposition flashbacks in the finale helped the film defeat itself as a psychological thriller. I didn't pay much attention to the symbolism. Just the characters actions. But since where speaking of how the symbolism of Saltburn relates to the characters, lets talk.
Oliver Quick was such an effective Chameleon that one's left unsure of what his true form was inspite of him being of flesh and blood. He was a predator masquerading as prey at it's most covetous, bent on the possession, consumption, usurpation and conquest of Felix and all that was his.
Felix was the sun to which all the stars revolved around and under his rays, they all wished to shine the brightest. Family, friends and lovers alike. But his sun was overpowered by the darkness fuelled by Oliver's avarice, envy and unrequited love at it's most obsessive.
Farleigh was less of an antagonist than he was an anti-hero because his gatekeeping of Oliver came across as him throwing stones from a glasshouse built from self preservation since he himself thanks to the mistakes of his mother was less wealthy than his English relatives and in danger of being disinherited.
Venitia was both a bored flame crying out for the attention of Moths since she was left flickering in the shadow of her older brother whose flame burned the brightest and a Black Widow Spider who was all webbing and no teeth. She was not yet fully formed in either regard and had yet to realise her full potential. Possibly as the last line of opposition to Oliver's conquest of the Saltburn Estate, which is the Catton families ancestral seat and her birthright but she had no strength of will to live for that to happen.
If Sir James & Elspeth represent anything it's old money at it's most vain, guilty, superficial, insulated, woefully ignorant and endangered.
With all that said, Saltburn was a funny, vibrant, opulent, flamboyant, obsessive, ruthless, seductive, decadent thrill ride of a film that was pure sociopath.
When I watched this film I was immediately reminded of the "when the director happens to be an expert in color theory" by Archer Green about the symbolic importance of color in La La Land. Saltburn is SUCH a good movie to watch with the use of color in mind because there are some very strong motifs displayed through color. The blue, red, yellow, and grey light that the characters are dressed in throughout the film really conveyed their emotions and the plot subtly and beautifully. 10/10 directing!!!!
What I found interesting was how initially the direction of the film suggested, at least in my view, that Felix committed suicide out of shame for who he was. Someone who continuously used people for his own benefit, and when he was bored of them would throw them away and move onto the next victim. Even Venetia mentions early on in the film, how Felix would have a different toy every year, hinting that Oliver wasn't so special to him after all. But towards the films end, we discover that it was actually Oliver who poisoned Felix in the maze, along with many other of his devilish schemes. That was a massive twist for me and one of the highlights of the movie overall. Phenomenal performance by Barry Keoghan.
u couldn’t see it coming that the guy acting like a total creep for the entire movie turned out to be a total creep? what’s crazy is that ur first interpretation would’ve been way more interesting but for some reason Emerald decided to throw out any ambiguity and nuance and give us a literal montage of Oliver being devious. honestly a shite movie through and through. every shot was heavy handed and facile and the literary symbolism was so surface level it made me wanna rip my hair out. the fact that the best this video could come up with for what the midsummer night’s dream symbolism could’ve meant was just that “the play has conflict and the film also has conflict” kinda just says it all. there was no thought beyond “ooh wouldn’t that seem smart?”
Whether Oliver was involved in the murders of the Catton Siblings blatant or indirectly was something of which I would've preferred to have been kept guessing. The removal of all ambiguity by the end of the movie is where Saltburn defeated itself as a psychological thriller. A genre in which the game is to be sold, not to be told.
I agree with this!!!
Idk, it never seemed likely that Felix would kill himself. It was always suspicious, especially because he’d given Oliver an ultimatum
the doppelganger was definitely felix's! the shot right after is literally him (dressed exactly like the doppelganger), and emerald also confirmed it!
tbh i thought the lyric in murder on the dance floor “i’ll take you all away” is referencing oliver literally taking the family members away from their home + it’s seems like all members of the house are very prideful of their home
Just a few thoughts in no order:
Could Ollie's party horns just be in opposition to Felix's angel wings?
Ollie took an earlier train and then caught a cab on his own. Duncan chides him because they had sent someone to get him at the previously agreed-upon time.
Ollie is very confident and seems to be equal to Felix AT Saltburn, but shows timidity at school and even at his childhood home.
Ollie's nerd friend Michael Gavy was the same friend that Felix had brought home the previous summer.
Is Sir James the only person Ollie didn't kill outright? Or does taking his family away become a form of murder?
Something about Elspeth's "I was surprised he waited so long" comment gave me the impression that James may have killed himself
Where in the movie does it imply that Michael was one of Felix's previous charity cases?
@@cynthiaaranda2095 I was wrong. It was some guy named Eddie? Apologies.
I know a deer isn’t a Minotaur, and antlers aren’t horns, but image wise, it is similar and makes me think about the Minotaur at the end. Also, interesting that his debut film was Killing of a Sacred Deer.
The antlers are a reference to Puck from mid summers night dream. Fanous line in the play is “Lord, what fools these mortals be “. Puck is a big thing in British folklore. Also called Robin Goodfellow. It’s a mischievous sprite / fairy that does pranks on family’s when they sleep. Rumpelstiltskin is like the German version. Look them up, very interesting.
I doubt it was intentional but there's two referees to Henry the 7th in this film. Henry the 7th was a usurper king that had no real legitimate claim to the throne. He overthrowed the standing king and took the crown for himself.
16:30 Venetia and Felix both have matching tattoos of stars. Similarly to the cigarette case, the tattoo of stars are located on their hands, where it’s struck by the arrow.
Brilliant analysis , well done.
The only thing other thing I noticed that nobody’s mentioned was the use of food.
Venetia and her eating issues, the rejection of the eggs at breakfast, refusing to eat the spag Bol, the cold food at the end that nobody can stomach.
Anybody else notice this and have any theories?
Venitia's eating disorder was apparently from the early table scenes and where spoken out loud during Oliver's seduction of her in the garden. You could also argue that the blood red lighting in the table scene after Felix's death with the cold pie signaled that Farleigh was about to be cast out.
It’s definitely interesting, and like everything Emerald included a meticulous detail to be explored. When Oliver learns of Venetia’s ED he instantly uses it as a tool to control her.. Which she does respond to in the moment. Her family seems to ignore the problem… thinking she’d “outgrow” it and keeping up appearances it much better serves as gossip than to give actual parenting/care and deal with it head on. Oliver knew Venetia desperately wanted someone to care for her and see her, and I’m sure eating her out on her period is symbolic of him literally wanting to consume her. But I did notice that while he does get her to eat and she’s responsive in the moment, she still leaves the table all the same. I expected that to be explored more, but I guess really all Venetia was to Oliver was a chess piece to be manipulated and played. In the end, she was the only family member who truly confronted Oliver without explicit evidence of his serpetine nature (that Felix was directly confronted with).
@@starlittered The straw that broke the Camels back was Oliver wearing Felix's aftershave. The whole shame of it all is that Venitia knew on some level what she was dealing with but didn't have enough strength of will to stand up as the last line of opposition to Oliver's scheme to usurp her family from their ancestral home. But when she called him a Spider, three words popped up in my head. Pot Kettle Black.
In hindsight the refusal of the eggs was an indicator of Oliver’s false identity; no one who actually grew up poor/neglected would have that strong of an opinion on how their eggs are done, especially as a guest. It’s also awkward how he doesn’t understand that most of the breakfast is self-serve. I think it was to call attention to the fact that he is comfortable being served to a degree.
The eating disorder reflects the trauma (feeling out of control) that the family neglects and Oliver uses as a tool to seduce Venetia. It parallels the addiction of Carry Mulligan’s character (she was in rehab) and her choice of style. These women are in pain and no one cares; the people who show them attention are predators because they smell blood
The inability to eat after Felix’s murder reflects who is most in touch with their humanity, because who can eat when they feel like sobbing and throwing up or dissociated etc. Being forced to carry on as if trauma weren’t affecting your physiology is disturbing.
@@passionforlife247 Now that is interesting. Especially since the runny eggs deal could easily be drawn down to personal tastes. But when growing up broke, stuck and starving, you'd eat whatevers there. Beggars can't be choosers right? Oliver might be used to being served but Saltburn, it felt like even then he was copying what he thought was the expectation of the super rich.
Speaking of hindsight, the moment Venitia spilt the wine the breakfast morning after Felix's death, it foreshadowed her to be the next fly to drop. The dinner scene with Pamela demonstrates what the Cattons do to the strays they take in and get bored of but their tactics are more subtle and less on the nose. Made all the more noticeable by Elspeth's masterclass in double talk.
Oliver said he took the train and then taxied to Saltburn, Duncan said that he was early and that they had sent a car for him (which he wasted by taking a taxi and coming on the earlier train than Saltburn expected)
Another symbolism for the stars on Oliver cigarette case is Felix and Venetia both have stars tattooed on their hands.
This movie. Oh my gosh. So I didn’t think I was going to watch it originally so I read the plot synopsis, but later on I ended up deciding to give it a go and holy shit the plot synopsis did not do this mind blowing movie justice. It was so artistic and creative and beautiful and tragic and awful and wonderful and holy shit I loved it. I loved how visceral Oliver’s actions were as the movie progressed. He was so timid and shy at the beginning but then he got so wildly insane as time passed and it just blew my mind
Barry keoghan is just different absolute animal when it comes to acting. Can not to see his portrayal of the joker the batman pt 2 now after that performance 👏
I read that The Minotaur statue was actually designed using Barry Keoghan's (Oliver) body as reference so it was interesting you picked up on that!
interesting!
Just watched the movie for the second time, after listening to Emerald Fennell's analysis of a few scenes too, and it's a feast of details. One more bull reference occurs at the second turning point in Oliver and Felix's relationship: he realizes Felix isn't meeting him at the pub (after getting on his nerves re: the flat) and walks by a sign for a pub called The Bull. Knowing Emerald Fennell, this is definitely not an accident.
Ah that’s interesting, because all the other Oxford references were real (eg they made plans to meet at the Kings Arms, and the KA is a real pub that every Oxford student knows and has been to at least once). So for there to be a fictional pub in the script (as far as I know, it’s fictional), the name would have to be meaningful in some way.
It could also be a reference to the Bullingdon Club, which Felix was probably invited to but which Oliver could never, ever get into.
I'm only a few minutes in but this is so good. I'm surprised there's not more saltburn analysis tbh
Amazing movie. Oliver's worship (fetishization?) of wealth and the family, especially Felix, manifests by mirroring and surpassing their debauchery.
He also exemplifies the calculating and sociopathic behavior necessary to accrue extreme wealth.
I think the ouroboros in the end credits is a nod to the cold-blooded cycle of regicide (in this case, its modern equivalent).
No doubt. The whole shock of the movie was that Oliver Quick was more ruthless than what I expected the Catton family to be. Oliver is the modern equivalent of a Usurper.
Also, Olliver wearing the antlers at his party, also with his forest-themed jacket, he reminded me of a wendigo(in the „usual“ depictions), in english: maneater, driving people mad, being hungry for their flesh, stalking them. And that‘s sort of what he does, stalking the family, getting in their heads and their house.
Also to the stars: Felix and Venetia too have little stars drawn/ tattooed on their hands. „Reaching for the stars“, as Oliver does, reaching for them to achieve the impossible and ultimately higher ends.
Another thing I noticed (I might be mistaken though) is Oliver usually being the physically shortest but in the end he‘s standing above them all; with Farleigh as he takes the control over their intimacy and later on tattling on him, with Felix after their final confrontation and then later standing above him in the symbolic form of the minotaur, in his confrontation with Venetia in the bathtub, where he‘s at last above her, same with Elsbeth, she notices how he‘s grown taller and, before he kills her, kneeling/laying on top of her. In regards to Venetia and the menstruation scene, too, he wants to take control of her, whether out of actual desire for her or just out of desire to possess her, drinking her blood, covering and thus connecting both of them through her life essence, something he wasn’t able to do with Felix - breaking him, being connected to him through his body which he tries to achieve by consuming his sperm-stained water. Felix however is not as fragile and instable as Venetia and Farleigh were, allowing Oliver to come close and finally to break them. Felix I think loved Oliver in a sort of way but ultimately was betrayed by him. And I think Oliver loved Felix, as he stated, very deeply, torn between loving and hating him because Oliver wanted him but Felix couldn’t be part of his dream. Still, his love for him is shown in the way Oliver was so intimately obsessed with Felix (his voyeuristic behaviour, his failed tries to be physically close and united with Felix during their confrontation and at his grave, I think Oliver truly desired and was in love with Felix in a way) but couldn‘t have him just like a moth can‘t fly into the flames without getting burned up itself.
Sorry for being so long-winded, I might add stuff later on but that’s my contribution for now, I hope yall are having a wonderful day, love ya.
vampires can also only come in to houses
Buffy taught us that
@@PastaSauce. have not seen that maybe the people in saltburn should have watched it tho
THANK YOUU i'm barely seeing any analysis videos on this movie
Dude the moment Felix told Oli he made his blood run cold I knew that Oli was in the process of killing him 😵💫😵💫
Mate, that was incredible. Thanks for your insight, I was scratching my head at that ending 😅
I really liked it. Very well done and the main man is a fantastic villain.
He was unattractive when shy.
Then when he goes domineering and evil, I'd marry him in a heartbeat
exactly omg
Did anyone notice the resemblance Oliver shares of that of Gatsby in terms of obsessive behavior and longing to be the 1%, I mean it’s no coincidence that Carey Mylligan who played daisy in Great Gatsby also plays Pamela, except this time it’s her who meets a tragic end and not Gatsby. God this is a genius work.
Exceptional analysis. I had noticed the multiple reflections of Oliver and it was not until the end that I understood this as the visual clue to the duality of his nature. You filled so many other aspects that I had not considered. Fennell has created a film as a work of art.
you're the first person i've seen mention the significance of oliver's and farleigh's last names!
also, it's interesting that oliver had a cigarette case at the beginning when he claimed not to smoke. one more thing he lied about i guess
The sister once mentioned to Oliver about felix, that you're one his toys, "better than the one he brought previous year"... This makes me think, if that switched something in Oliver's brain!?! Cauz He was clearly obsessed with him, but when Felix was unattainable, his obsession spread through and became materialistic... He said multiple times - " I loved him, so much"..." Was I in love with him?!? No"... I think he is sabotaging his emotions there... Cauz clearly he grieves Felix's loss...
A couple of things I'd noted:
When Oliver first goes to Oxford, he is only able to find company with Michael, someone who is ultimately just like him; a narcissist out for himself. Oliver however is a good manipulator, unlike Micheal, which you can see when Micheal impotently tries to tell Oliver that Felix will cast him off and calls him a bootlicker.
Also to the Doppelganger point. Oliver is as much in love with Felix as the idea of him. I believe part of the lore around a doppelganger is that they replace you in the real world, and I think the change in clothing and demeanour is meant to reflect how Oliver comes to be like Felix. I even felt that Oliver became more muscular like Felix as the story progressed. As mentioned in the point about windows and mirrors, Oliver observes Felix through the glass as a doppelganger does, and ultimately breaks through this divide (like Samara climbing through the TV in The Ring) to take over his life.
I also thought that the antlers referred to the "Cuckold's Horns" (referenced in several Shakespeare plays) as Oliver observes Felix in several sexual situations from the outside despite having no real chance at a relationship with him.
its also kind of crazy how towards the end you dont even feel bad about them all dying
Loved this film I can’t stop thinking about it, but I wish the whole plan wasn’t given away at the end ngl
the shot of oliver with deer horns in the maze reminded me of the TV show Hannibal. Hannibal's alter ego was a demon with deer horns, and of course he was a murderous psychopath--just like Oliver in Saltburn
Omg when I saw the horns that's exactly what I thought of
I enjoyed this movie it’s very reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley.. same mood
I thought the same but I think this movie was better
Oliver is a sociopath, and a psychopath. I’ve seen reviews of this film where people complain that we didn’t get an explanation of why Oliver is the way he is. & i liked that personally. We don’t always know why people are the way they are, sometimes there isn’t a reason why - some people are just insane. A lot of serial killers have been sexual deviants, pathological liars, and actually come from loving homes. All-in-all, I’m not sure there’s currently anyone who can play a wicked & twisted person like Barry can. It’s so believable and never over-acted.
I thought the antlers Oliver wears could be a wink to the film The Killing of the Sacred Deer, in which this actor also played a character relating to a family
I think the horns on Ollie's head are relating to the story of artemis turning actaeon into a stag after she catches him watching her bathe in the woods
Interesting. Could you please elaborate on this?
I don't think it's the main point of this costume but it's clear that there are many nods to classics both Roman and Greek and the fact that there are so many instances of Oliver being obviously voyeuristic towards Felix when he's at college or at Saltburn to me instantly linked to the myth of Artemis and Actaeon. Probably just a small nod I don't think it's a direct or completely important reference.
@@beaversteve
It seems like a lot of people missed the enormous foreshadowing when Elspeth meets Oliver for the first time in the room with the family, I haven't heard anyone mention these
The first part is after Elspeth says how handsome Oliver is and Felix replies with "I told you he's not a minger' and she replies "[...] you're kind about everyone, you can't be trusted"
However, while she is speaking to Felix, she turns her head immediately back to Oliver when she says "You can't be trusted"
The next foreshadowing is immediately after, when she asks Oliver "Have you seen Venetia yet? Oh my gosh, she'll die"
Finally, Pamela is made to leave the room and Elspeth mentions that she's here hiding from her Russian billionare husband. 2 scenes later at the dinner table, Pamela speaking about her husband says "He was so lovely at first, then all of his business partners started falling out of windows"
This mirrors both all of the family members later dropping like flies around Oliver who also seemed lovely at first. (and mentions the commonly occuring imagery of windows)
She then says her father always said she'd end up at the bottom of the Thames. Like how the pebbles of dead friends and family members end up in the bottom of bodies of water.
Sorry this was long, just thought I'd share something I picked up after a second watch.
And then on top of the music box with marionettes as trophies alluding to Oliver's conquest of Saltburn over their dead bodies. Hail Oliver the Usurper.👑
this saltburn analysis is amazing i never realised any of this really before :)
Doesn't Puck have horns or antlers pretty often in productions of Midsummer's Night Dream? That's how I made the connection that Oliver was connected to Puck in the party scene
This movie is so good I could just CRY.
I'm amazed when I hear in-depth reviews like this one. Things that I never noticed or thought of are well-explained. After listening to your thoughts, I agree with everything you said. Thank you.
the scene where venetia is talking about story with the maid, i always figured that it was felix walking by because felix was wearing a pink shirt in that scene and he was the first person oliver killed/the first one to die in the film
Unless you count the previous house guest.
Oliver's MO seems to be getting people to all turn against someone, leaving them isolated, and then 'something' happens to them and they die.
The house guest, Venetia, Farleigh, Sir James and Elspeth were all socially isolated and then pushed out of the family before dying as the result of something off screen (Sir James paying off Oliver damaged his and Elspeth's relationship and he died off screen, Farleigh was disowned completely and likely met a similar fate to his mother, Venetia was found in the bath having supposedly committed suicide and Elspeth was alone in an empty house with not a soul in it besides her and Oliver)
Felix is the only one to not be socially isolated, though he was physically isolated from anyone else at the time of his death. He and Elspeth are the only people we see getting killed directly by Oliver, but I think it's plausible that he had a hand in all of them dying because they were competition that could edge him out of his goal of possessing the manor and the family's immense wealth.
It took me a couple days to wrap my head around this. Really very good movie. Third act didn't hit as hard as i would've liked, but still great.
With the car/train question, could it not be that it was his parents who dropped him off? But of course he pretended he didn’t speak to them.
I’m
Impressed with this movie, it has all the ingredients to a classical in the movie scene ! It deserves more attention !
An article about Indie Sleaze made me curious about this movie, and I was not disappointed. There, Indie Sleaze is defined as a carefree party lifestyle that is later replaced by the self-optimizing aesthetic of the Clean Girls. This led me to the theory that the family embraces this nostalgic and, as they say themselves, “old-fashioned” lifestyle, while Oliver chases the effortlessly polished look to optimize his own life. Which begs the question: Where has all the fun gone?
I loved the film Saltburn for its aesthetic as well as its excellent casting. But I especially remembered the masterful performance of Barry Keoghan, who for me carried this film with a masterful hand, he is frightening, Machiavellian, insane, a real psychopath!!! I love uncomfortable and creepy roles where the actor steps out of his comfort zone, the last of which was entirely improvised by him.
THANK YOU for talking about the music
What a great video! Loved your insights and commentary, and the editing was fantastic!
I think the man passing through the window refers to Felix’s doppelgänger because Felix is wearing a pink shirt in that scene and they’re saying once they see one (a doppelgänger) the person it resembles is soon to die
Not sure how this film relates to the "rich-sploitation" genre, with Triangle of Sadness and Parasite and Burning - because the protagonist has no redeeming qualities. Note: recurring symbolism of him sticking fingers down throats; first in fake stories about his mom, then in the period blood scene, which the girl reenacts on him when she's in the tub ... There is a deep underworld of meaning here! Thanks for unlocking some of it!
Don't forget to add the Menu to that list. An irredeemable villain protagonist like Oliver emerging victorious is what made Saltburn as a film all the more ruthless.
@@Senate300 But I felt it was almost a film that cautions the rich about the depraved middle classes. Which I disagree with.
@@EcoMythos Or that the Aristocratically rich had more to fear from the middle classes at their most ambitious, ashamed, entitled and discontent than they ever will from the reverse discriminatory, envious under/working classes pissing the wind about the evils of the rich. You could also consider it commentary on the dying out of old money. To me the message was to defend what's yours by any means. Because if you don't, someone like Oliver will stay scheming to take it.